US, judge orders restoration of Voice of America
A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to fully restore the operations of Voice of America, the US government-funded broadcaster, bringing back to work hundreds of journalists who had been on administrative leave for a year
On 17 March, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration torestore the operations of Voice of America, the US public broadcaster, after it had been effectively shut down a year ago, bringing back to work hundreds of employees who had been on administrative leave.
U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth gave the U.S. Agency for Global Media one week to prepare a plan that would allow Voice of America to return to the airwaves. The station has continued to operate with a skeleton staff since President Donald Trump issued an executive order to shut it down.
A week ago, Lamberth had claimed that Kari Lake, whom Trump had chosen to lead the agency, did not have the legal authority to do what he had done to Voice of America. In today's decision, Lamberth ruled on the measures taken by Lake in response to Trump's order, which had effectively put 1,042 of Voice of America's 1,147 employees on leave.
Voice of America has been broadcasting news in countries around the world since its inception during World War II, often in nations without a tradition of a free press. Prior to Trump's executive order, Voice of America operated in 49 different languages, reaching 362 million people.
